Perhaps the feds should attempt this experiment in their own ranks. As a U.S. Army veteran, I still have the distinct bad taste of remembering how hard I worked as a Specialist 4 for a limited wage, while federal workers at the Department of the Army with grades of GS 10 to GS 12 felt perfectly comfortable doing the bare minimum to draw a wage that was triple my own. If performance-pay research demonstrates positive results, let the government reform the civil service system first—maybe then we can wipe out the federal deficit.

Bea DeRego

Kaneohe, Hawaii

Vol. 27, Issue 08, Page 30

Published in Print: October 17, 2007, as If Merit Pay Is So Good, Use It on Federal Workers